Leading HMO PhilCare wins big at the Philippine Quill Awards

April 7, 2021 | 2:44 pm

PhilCare, one of the country’s most preferred health maintenance organizations (HMO), soars to new heights in its quest to deliver smarter healthcare for Filipinos as its groundbreaking initiatives gained top recognition at the 18th Philippine Quill Awards.

Leading the list of Quill Awards for the company is the PhilCare Community Quarantine Wellness Index which won the top prize for Communications Research category. The PhilCare CQ Wellness Index looked into the actual state of well-being of Filipinos amid the imposition of the first enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

A total of 800 respondents from all walks of life nationwide were interviewed through mobile phones to get a big picture of how they responded to the effects of the lockdowns and the pandemic as a whole.

The study revealed that Filipinos prayed a lot more while greatly cutting down on vices during the first lockdown. Interestingly also, nearly all respondents back then were most concerned with a possible “second wave” of COVID-19.

The PhilCare CQ Wellness Index was also nominated to receive the top award for COVID Communications, a special division in this year’s Quills dedicated to business communication efforts in response to the pandemic. Meanwhile, the study’s publicity effort also won a Quill award of merit under the Communications Management division.

Organized by the International Association of Business Communicators – Philippines (IABC Philippines), the Philippine Quill is the country’s most prestigious business communications awards program. Programs and projects are awarded on the basis of excellent communication use to achieve business goals and to make a difference in society.

“Being responsive to the needs of our audience is always important to us. Given that COVID-19 and the lockdowns quickly changed the way we live, we wanted to get their pulse in the fastest and most accurate manner possible, especially with regard to their health. This is why we conducted the PhilCare CQ Wellness Index,” said PhilCare President and CEO Jaeger L. Tanco.

“Now that we are more informed with more relevant data, we are in a position to help our fellow Filipinos bounce back better by developing new products, services, and programs that are in tune with the times,” said PhilCare Director Eusebio H. Tanco

Another responsive effort relative to the first ECQ that won was the Wellness From Home (WFH) video series, which bagged a Quill award of excellence under the Communications Skills division.

The videos, uploaded on PhilCare’s Facebook page following the implementation of the first lockdowns, featured exercises taught by fitness experts to help followers achieve optimal wellness despite being unable to go out to exercise. These have reached over 900,000 people, of which at least 330,000 have viewed them.

The 2019 PhilCare Wellness Index and the HMO’s prepaid health cards program also bagged Quill merit awards.

“We are thankful to IABC Philippines for acknowledging PhilCare’s efforts to deliver relevant health and wellness information, which audiences greatly need during this pandemic,” Jaeger added.

Tech companies support DoH’s campaign to fight vaccine misinformation

April 7, 2021 | 2:04 pm

Tech companies committed to supporting #ChecktheFAQs, a campaign launched today by the Department of Health (DoH) emphasizing the importance of accurate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) information.

Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Twitter will raise awareness for the initiative, which includes a page on the DoH website that provides reliable information on the virus and its vaccines.

Filipinos spend an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes daily on social media, according to the Digital 2021 report by Hootsuite and We Are Social. Online networks have become major sources of news for the country’s 89 million social media users, which makes fighting online misinformation crucial.

“We will continue working closely with global and national health authorities, including the Philippine Department of Health, to make it easy for people to find authoritative COVID-19 and vaccine information across Facebook’s apps,” said Clare Amador, head of public policy of Facebook Philippines, in a press statement.

“We are also taking action against accounts that break our COVID-19 and vaccine rules—including reducing their distribution or removing them from our platform,” Ms. Amador added.

Google, for its part, has been taking down harmful and misleading content across its products, raising authoritative information on Search and YouTube, providing ad grants, and supporting quality news vaccine reporting. More than 700,000 videos worldwide related to dangerous or false COVID-19 information have been removed.

“Our information panels on YouTube have been viewed 400 billion times, making them a valuable source of credible information,” said Google Philippines country director Bernadette Nacario in a press statement.

TikTok and Twitter have similar initiatives in their respective platforms. TikTok, according to Kristoffer Rada, TikTok Philippines’s head for public policy, collaborates with fact-checking partners and removes misinformation that violates community guidelines. “We take the responsibility of helping counter inauthentic, misleading or false information,” he said.

Twitter, meanwhile, implemented new policies to apply labels to the tweets that may contain misleading information surrounding COVID-19, in addition to its continued efforts to remove the same, according to Monrawee Ampolpittayanant, Twitter Southeast Asia’s head of public policy, government, and philanthropy.

“We believe that giving access to factual information is integral in building public confidence on vaccines, as well as keeping the integrity of public conversations around health,” she said. — P. B. Mirasol

A third of COVID survivors suffer neurological or mental disorders — study

April 7, 2021 | 1:22 pm

LONDON — One in three coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors in a study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients were diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months, suggesting the pandemic could lead to a wave of mental and neurological problems, scientists said on Tuesday.

Researchers who conducted the analysis said it was not clear how the virus was linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.

Post-COVID cases of stroke, dementia, and other neurological disorders were rarer, the researchers said, but were still significant, especially in those who had severe COVID-19.

“Our results indicate that brain diseases and psychiatric disorders are more common after COVID-19 than after flu or other respiratory infections,” said Max Taquet, a psychiatrist at Britain’s Oxford University, who co-led the work.

The study was not able to determine the biological or psychological mechanisms involved, he said, but urgent research is needed to identify these “with a view to preventing or treating them.”

Health experts are increasingly concerned by evidence of higher risks of brain and mental health disorders among COVID-19 survivors. A previous study by the same researchers found last year that 20% of COVID-19 survivors were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within three months.

The new findings, published in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, analyzed health records of 236,379 COVID-19 patients, mostly from the United States, and found 34% had been diagnosed with neurological or psychiatric illnesses within six months.

The disorders were significantly more common in COVID-19 patients than in comparison groups of people who recovered from flu or other respiratory infections over the same time period, the scientists said, suggesting COVID-19 had a specific impact.

Anxiety, at 17%, and mood disorders, at 14%, were the most common and did not appear to be related to how mild or severe the patient’s COVID-19 infection had been.

Among those who had been admitted to intensive care with severe COVID-19, however, 7% had a stroke within six months, and almost 2% were diagnosed with dementia.

“Although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the effect across the whole population may be substantial,” said Paul Harrison, an Oxford psychiatry professor who co-led the work. — Kate Kelland/Reuters

‘A biological Fukushima’: Brazil COVID-19 deaths on track to pass worst of US wave

April 7, 2021 | 12:40 pm

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s brutal surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths will soon surpass the worst of a record January wave in the United States, scientists forecast, with fatalities climbing for the first time above 4,000 in a day on Tuesday as the outbreak overwhelms hospitals.

Brazil’s overall death toll trails only the US outbreak, with nearly 337,000 killed, according to Health Ministry data, compared with more than 555,000 dead in the United States.

But with Brazil’s healthcare system at the breaking point, the country could exceed total US deaths, despite having a population two-thirds that of the United States, two experts told Reuters.

“It’s a nuclear reactor that has set off a chain reaction and is out of control. It’s a biological Fukushima,” said Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian doctor and professor at Duke University, who is closely tracking the virus.

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported another 4,195 COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, well above the country’s prior single-day record. Brazil has set daily death records every week since late February, as a more contagious local variant and meager social distancing efforts fuel an uncontrolled outbreak.

With mass vaccinations curtailing the US outbreak, Brazil has become the epicenter of the pandemic, contributing about one in four deaths per day globally, according to a Reuters analysis.

President Jair Bolsonaro has pushed back against mask-wearing and lockdowns that public health experts consider the best way to lessen virus transmission.

The country dragged its feet last year as the world raced to secure vaccines, slowing the launch of a national immunization program.

Despite the recent surge, Brazilian officials are insistent that the country can soon return to something resembling business as usual.

“We think that probably two, three months from now Brazil could be back to business,” Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said during an online event on Tuesday. “Of course, probably economic activity will take a drop but it will be much, much less than the drop we suffered last year … and much, much shorter.”

Mr. Bolsonaro has responded to growing political pressure with a dramatic shakeup of a half dozen ministries, putting loyalists in key roles ahead of what may be a tough re-election campaign next year against his political nemesis.

While the president has shifted his tone on immunizations, touting vaccines he had recently disdained, the far-right former army captain continues to battle in the courts against state and municipal restrictions on economic activity.

With weak measures failing to combat contagion, Brazil’s COVID-19 cases and deaths are accumulating faster than ever.

Nicolelis and Christovam Barcellos, a researcher at Brazilian medical institute Fiocruz, are separately forecasting that Brazil could surpass the United States in both overall deaths and the record for average deaths per day.

As soon as next week, Brazil may break the record US seven-day average for COVID-19 deaths, according to a model by the influential Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. The US average for daily deaths peaked at 3,285 in January.

The IHME forecast does not currently extend beyond July 1, when it projects Brazil could reach 563,000 deaths, compared with 609,000 total U.S. fatalities expected by then. — Pedro Fonseca/Reuters

Investors brace for Asia’s worst stock market to fall even further

April 7, 2021 | 12:03 pm

A rout that’s made the Philippine benchmark equity gauge the worst performer in the Asia Pacific region risks worsening in the wake of fresh virus curbs.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index has tumbled 7.7% so far in 2021. While a two-day bounce has lifted the gauge above a critical 200-day support line, surging COVID-19 infections and fears of a lengthy lockdown in Manila have prompted investors such as Gerard Abad to hoard cash as they brace for further turbulence.

“There is more downside risk at this point in time,” said Abad, chief investment officer at AB Capital & Investment Corp. His cash holdings have doubled since the start of the year as he expects the stock gauge to retreat to as low as 6,000 if the virus curbs fail. The measure ended Tuesday’s session at 6,590.11.

Tough challenges are ahead for Philippine stocks that have suffered unprecedented withdrawals of foreign funds, illustrating the fragility of some emerging markets even amid the global vaccine rollouts. Shares in India and Thailand are also under pressure due to curbs to contain rising infections.

A spike in virus cases since mid March spurred the Philippine government to reimpose lockdowns in Manila and four neighboring provinces for at least two weeks through April 11, a blow to the economy’s bid to bounce back from recession.

Some others are less pessimistic on local stocks.

While the lockdown has a “chilling effect,” the index would not probably fall beyond the 6,300 to 6,400 level with the approval of a law cutting corporate taxes, according to Robert Ramos, head of trust and investments group at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. While he pegs this year’s upside at 6,800, he said he’s not deploying all his cash.

“The tax benefit will definitely help companies but consumption has to happen,” Ramos said. “A GDP surge may not happen in the second quarter as initially expected but I am hopeful spending will pick up in the third quarter when infections go down and vaccine rollout speeds up.”

Still, the two-week lockdown is expected to shave off 0.8 percentage points from full-year growth this year, Economic Planning Secretary Karl Chua said Monday. Expansion this year “is going to be lower than what we expected” as virus cases surge, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said Tuesday.

The nation’s equities are at the weakest correlation to their Asian peers since 2017, a sign of expectations that the Philippines will lag its neighbors in economic recovery as it trails neighbors in vaccinations.

“The bigger fear in the market is our credit rating could be downgraded because of the murkiness of the economic rebound,” Abad said. “A prolonged lockdown puts everything at risk.”

Assuming the curbs succeed, vaccination speeds up and the recovery in earnings gains traction in the second half, he said the stock gauge’s upside this year is at 6,800 to 7,000 levels. – Bloomberg

Silver linings: COVID-19 driving innovation in public health

April 7, 2021 | 8:00 am

Screenshot (121) — In photo during the BusinessWorld Insights' two-part online series themed "The Impact of Technology on the Healthcare Sector," with the topic "Technology's Key Role in Public Health Innovation," are (clockwise, from top left) moderator Arjay Balinbin of BusinessWorld; and panellists Mar-Len Abigail Binay, Makati City mayor; Dr. Raymond Francis Sarmiento, director of the National Telehealth Center; Jay Fajardo, co-founder and CEO of Medifi; and Patrick Nico Alcoseba, vice-president and head of ICT Business at PLDT Enterprise.

By Bjorn Biel M. Beltran, Special Features Writer

While the overall damage COVID-19 has done to the country remains untold, the good things that have come in response to it can already be seen.

Policy makers and industry leaders have already seen the importance of supporting the country’s frontline workers and healthcare professionals. The rapid rise of digitalization has helped both the public and private sectors in their efforts towards supporting vulnerable communities, and has even opened avenues for Filipinos to make extra income during the crisis.

Technology has played and continues to play a major role in the development of such changes. Mar-Len Abigail Binay, mayor of Makati City, said during a session of BusinessWorld Insights that Makati relies heavily on new technologies for its COVID-19 response initiatives such as the locally-developed COVID-19 case tracker, the city’s “U Make Makati Safe” contact tracing website, and the GIS Mapping for the city’s vaccine inventory.

“As a champion of smart and adaptive governance, I believe that the impact of technology in the healthcare sector is crucial to preventing local transmission and mitigating the socio-economic effects of the crisis,” she said.

The second and final session of BusinessWorld Insights’ two-part online series themed “The Impact of Technology on the Healthcare Sector”, with the topic “Technology’s Key Role in Public Health Innovation”, aimed to show how the public and private sectors continue to collaborate for a better and modernized public health system in the country.

Ms. Binay pointed out that innovations such as a health information management system and telemedicine and telehealth platforms could address pressing concerns with public health.

Telemedicine and telehealth allow physicians and healthcare professionals to practice medicine using electronic and telecommunications technologies to deliver care remotely. A physician in one location can use telehealth to deliver care to a patient at a distant site through the internet, therefore giving more people access to medical care and advice.

“Even before the pandemic, we already saw the need for telemedicine to address the issue of the city’s scarce resource of doctors. We were a little bit prepared when the pandemic hit, but not as much as I would have wanted,” she said.

The issue of a lack of doctors and other healthcare professionals has been a prevailing one, yet it seems that only when the pandemic hit did everyone realize the gravity of the problem. Jay Fajardo, co-founder and CEO of telemedicine platform Medifi, noted that as of April 2020, the Philippines had a ratio of about six doctors per 10,000 patients.

“When we started Medifi in 2015, we set out to help prevailing problems that the Philippines experiences with regards to healthcare, particularly access to doctors. The ratio of doctors to patients in our country is very low, and we see Medifi as a huge force multiplier and reach multiplier for physicians and their patients,” he said.

Medifi is a telemedicine platform that enables patients to remotely connect with their doctors and conduct secure and meaningful medical consultations on their mobile phone. Yet before the pandemic, Mr. Fajardo admitted that they had trouble convincing doctors to use their platform. Only when COVID-19 forced the country into a lockdown last March did its pool of healthcare professionals grow from about 425 to more than 3,000.

“Last year in March, our platform played a heightened role because of the quarantine. Not only were patients having a hard time going to the clinics because of the quarantine, but doctors themselves were looking for a way to continue their practice,” he said.

Medifi, he further noted, aimed to fulfill a triage role to filter out as much as 70% of avoidable visits to the hospitals and clinics to avoid the overloading of the public healthcare system. Currently, the platform serves more than 37,000 patients.

“Technology and public health are not often mentioned in the same breath and yet technology adoption and economic growth have become more correlated,” Patrick Nico Alcoseba, vice-president and head of ICT Business at PLDT Enterprise, said.

Mr. Alcoseba said that while there are a number of foundational aspects to health technologies, what makes the biggest positive impact are the ones that enhance the capability of patients, doctors, healthcare providers, and other institutions to connect and communicate, along with technologies that can multiply limited resources across geographies.

“Since technology has the power to multiply benefits across the entire ecosystem and health tech is a growing area of importance across the globe managing the health of the nation, it has become very intertwined with managing the health of its economy.”

Dr. Raymond Francis Sarmiento, director of the National Telehealth Center, further pointed out while technology furthers innovation in the healthcare industry, it falls to the government to put forward new standards in the implementation of such technologies.

“The pandemic has brought about challenges. But that’s not to say we have been idle on the public health innovation and health information technology front,” he said.

He noted that National Telehealth Center has been looking for ways to elevate the country’s telemedicine practices, working with the Department of Health in issuing telemedicine practice guidelines. The organization is also busy collecting pertinent health information data from vaccine distribution, contact tracing and testing results to further the development of the public healthcare system.

“In the past few months, we have been concentrating on elevating our current status in terms of vaccine ICT systems and we hope to be able to push forward innovations and technologies that will play a crucial role in terms of integrating all of the data so that we could recover as one and heal as one,” Dr. Sarmiento said.

BusinessWorld Insights: “Technology’s Key Role in Public Health Innovation” was presented by BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation, with sponsors PLDT Enterprise and Siemens Healthineers.

Inflation eases to 4.5% in March

April 7, 2021 | 12:35 am

sunset-skyline — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

Headline inflation stood at 4.5% in March, government data showed. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

By Ana Olivia A. Tirona, Researcher

INFLATION eased in March after five straight months of acceleration, as food prices increased at a slower pace, the government’s statistical agency reported on Tuesday.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed headline inflation at 4.5% in March, slowing from the year-on-year rate of 4.7% in February. However, this was still above the 2.5% recorded in March last year.

The latest headline figure is lower than the 4.8% median in a BusinessWorld poll conducted late last week and falls within the 4.2%-5% estimate given by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for March.

Year-to-date inflation settled at 4.5%, beyond the BSP’s 2-4% target this year and above the forecast of 4.2% for the entire year.

Core inflation, which discounted volatile prices of food and energy items, stood at 3.5%. This was unchanged from the rate recorded in the previous month but faster than the 3% in the same month last year.

The PSA attributed the easing in March to the slower increase in prices of heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic beverages at 5.8% from 6.7% in February. Food and non-alcoholic beverages account for 38.3% of the theoretical basket of goods that an average Filipino household consumes.

Inflation on food items stood at 6.2% in March, slower than 7% in February, but still higher compared with the 2.6% posted in March last year.

The PSA also noted slower annual rates in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (12.1% from 12.2%); furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house (1.9% from 2.4%); communication (0.2% from 0.3%); and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services (3.1% from 3.2%).

Meanwhile, the inflation rate for the bottom 30% of income households, stood at 5.5% in March, steady from the rate recorded in the previous month, but still faster than the 2.4% in March 2020.

“The overall latest outturn is consistent with expectations that inflation could settle above the high end of the target in 2021, reflecting the impact of supply-side constraints on domestic prices of key food commodities, such as meat, as well as the continuing rise in world oil prices,” BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said in Viber message to reporters.

“Nevertheless, inflation is still seen to return to within the target band in 2022 as supply-side influences subside,” he added.

In a separate statement, the National Economic and Development Authority said the lower inflation rate in March “is a good indicator of price stabilization” and expects succeeding inflation rates to “align with targets soon as a result of proactive interventions.”

RATES SEEN ON HOLD
BSP’s Mr. Diokno said the prevailing monetary policy settings “remain appropriate” to support the government’s efforts to put the economy back on track.

“At the same time, the Monetary Board emphasizes that the timely implementation of non-monetary interventions is crucial in mitigating the impact of supply-side pressures on inflation and thereby preventing them from spilling over as second-round effects,” he said, adding that the central bank is “prepared to take immediate measures as appropriate.”

The BSP’s Monetary Board kept the benchmark overnight reverse repurchase rate at an all-time low of 2% for a third consecutive meeting on March 25 as it continues to provide support to the economy amid emerging risks from the fresh surge in COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases. Rates for the overnight lending and deposit facilities were likewise maintained at 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively.

Economists see the central bank to keep rates on hold in the next monetary policy meeting to be held on May 13.

“[W]e expect BSP to keep policy rates at 2% in order to bolster the economic recovery with several regions now under strict lockdown due to a recent spike in new COVID-19 infections,” ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in a statement to reporters.

“BSP will only consider recalibrating monetary policy should second-round effects such as wage hikes become apparent or if inflation expectations become disanchored,” he added.

In a separate statement, ANZ Research economists Rini Sen and Sanjay Mathur said a long pause in rates is “warranted” at this point as they believe the BSP will continue to monitor inflation figures despite prolonged elevated prices in food items due to extended lockdowns.

Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal will remain under “extended community quarantine” until April 11.

Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces shared the same assessment: “[A]s much as the elevated inflation path could make the BSP uneasy, we believe the central bank will prioritize supporting the economic recovery and therefore rate hikes at this point will be counter-productive,” he said in a Viber message to BusinessWorld.

For Pantheon Macroeconomics Senior Asia Economist Miguel Chanco: “[T]he BSP is likely to continue to stand pat, given the renewed and intense COVID-19 headwinds domestically.”

“An outright double-dip in quarter-on-quarter gross domestic product still is on the cards, with the recent extension of anti-virus measures in line with our below-consensus expectations,” he said.

The Department of Health reported 9,373 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 812,760 and active cases to 152,562. — with inputs from Beatrice M. Laforga and Luz Wendy T. Noble

Economic managers now see slower GDP growth this year

April 7, 2021 | 12:34 am

The strict lockdown and surge in coronavirus cases are expected to hurt Philippine economic growth this year. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

THE Philippine economy is expected to grow below the government’s target this year, according to economic managers, as the capital region and nearby provinces were placed under the strictest form of lockdown to curb the spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

“I think it (economic growth) is going to be lower than what we expected,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.

Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado said in a Viber message that the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) has yet to schedule its meeting in revisiting growth targets.

The DBCC has set a 6.5-7.5% growth target for this year and projected 8-10% growth in 2022. The economy contracted by a record 9.5% in 2020 as the Philippines implemented one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) earlier estimated the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal may shave 0.8 percentage point off the gross domestic product (GDP) this year.

Shutting down the country’s main economic hub would translate to income loss of nearly P30 billion for the two-week period ending April 11, the NEDA said.

The shutdown resulted in 252,000 more Filipinos losing their jobs, while 102,000 more slipped into poverty.

“Enhanced community quarantine alone does not reduce cases. It simply buys time. Thus, we need to further intensify testing, tracing, quarantine, isolation, treatment, and vaccination,” Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in a statement on Monday evening.

The Health department reported 9,373 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the number of active cases to 152,562.

Mr. Chua said extending the ECQ by one week would have helped prevent 215,320 additional COVID-19 cases, including 6,469 severe infections.

“We can also prevent 4,026 COVID-19 deaths,” he added.

The NEDA chief projected over 323,000 COVID-19 infections and 6,000 deaths will be prevented, if the country’s health systems will be strengthened while testing and isolation efforts are intensified during the strict lockdown.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chua said the government should boost and improve the health systems capacity; adopt better communication strategy; hasten vaccine rollout, especially to vulnerable sectors; and help all sectors prepare to shift to the “new normal.”

“Enforcing minimum health protocols and monitoring compliance, building more isolation facilities, accelerating vaccine deployment to the vulnerable sectors, and implementing the additional social amelioration program are all needed,” Mr. Chua added.

Multilateral institutions and other international organizations have slashed their growth forecasts for the Philippines already due to rising coronavirus cases.

The World Bank slashed its Philippine growth outlook to 5.5% for 2021 from 5.9% previously, while ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) cut its forecast to 6.9% from 7.4%. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) lowered its growth estimate for the Philippines to 6.5% from 7% previously. — Beatrice M. Laforga

PHL faces ‘substantial’ uncertainty over virus surge, lockdown — IMF

April 7, 2021 | 12:33 am

By Luz Wendy T. Noble, Reporter

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees the Philippine economy bouncing back slightly faster than previously expected this year, but noted it is “critical” to contain the surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In its World Economic Outlook titled “Managing Divergent Recoveries” published on Tuesday, IMF said it expects the country to grow by 6.9% this year, faster than the 6.6% estimate it gave in January. This outlook is well-within the 6.5% to 7.5% target set by the government.

The IMF also maintained its Philippine growth forecast for next year at 6.5%.

The ASEAN-5 region is expected to grow slightly slower at 4.9%, from a previous estimate of 5.2%, this year. Among the five countries, the Philippines has the fastest growth projection, followed by Vietnam and Malaysia (both at 6.5%), Indonesia (4.3%), and Thailand (2.6%).

“This partly reflects the fact that the Philippine economy contracted more last year compared to its peers and hence the rebound this year is expected to be stronger, other things being equal,” IMF Representative to the Philippines Yongzheng Yang said in an e-mail.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by a record 9.5% in 2020.

While the IMF upgraded its growth forecast for the Philippines this year, Mr. Yang cautioned that tighter quarantine measures and the recent spike in COVID-19 infections are significant risks to this outlook.

“Needless to say, these growth forecasts are subject to substantial uncertainty. In particular, recent hikes in virus infections pose a significant downside risk, as tightening quarantine measures could dampen economic activity,” he said.

Mr. Yang added a slower-than-expected pace of vaccination, continued geopolitical and trade tensions, and potential volatility in the global financial market could also potentially contribute to a dimmer economic outlook in the country.

“At this juncture, it is critical to strengthen virus containment measures to bring infections under control and to maintain macroeconomic support to reduce scarring effects of the pandemic,” Mr. Yang said.

The Health department reported 9,373 new COVID-19 cases on and 382 deaths on Tuesday. Active cases stood at 152,562.

Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal are under the strictest lockdown until April 11 to curb the virus spread. Analysts and health experts have warned tighter restriction measures alone will only lead to further losses in the economy if not paired with heightened testing, tracing, and treatment of COVID-19 infections.

Mr. Yang said the IMF’s latest forecast for the Philippines considered the stronger-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter last year which could boost recovery prospects for the country. Fourth-quarter GDP grew by 5.6% compared with the July to September period.

The IMF also anticipates heightened fiscal stimulus from the 2021 national budget, carry-over funds from the 2020 appropriations, as well as unused allocations from Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.

With the pandemic’s end still unclear, Mr. Yang said vital assistance and reform measures will be beneficial for both households and businesses.

“Targeted support to vulnerable households should continue while strengthening social protection programs over time. Continued structural reforms to reduce restrictions on inbound foreign investment and efforts to ease the burden of doing business and resource reallocation would also help recovery,” he said.

Meanwhile, the IMF upwardly revised its growth forecast for the global economy to 6% from 5.5% in January, citing upside risks from additional fiscal support in some large economies and a “vaccine-powered” recovery by the second half of 2021. It likewise raised its outlook in 2022 to 4.4% from 4.2%

Despite the rosier outlook, the multilateral lender stressed how economies are seeing divergent paths of recovery and the potential for persistent economic damage from the crisis. These varying recovery tracks will likely lead to “significantly wider gaps in living standards” compared with the pre-pandemic situation.

“Emerging market economies and low-income developing countries have been hit harder and are expected to suffer more significant medium-term losses,” the report said.

BIR maintains April 15 deadline for ITR filing

April 7, 2021 | 12:32 am

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Tuesday said it will not extend the April 15 deadline for filing and payment of annual income tax returns (ITR).

BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 46-2021 on Tuesday which emphasized the deadline for ITR filing and payment remains on April 15, following a number of queries from taxpayers and tax practitioners about earlier reports of a possible deadline extension.

As a relief for taxpayers, Mr. Dulay said the BIR will allow the filing of a tentative ITR before the deadline and give them until May 15 to amend the returns without penalties.

If overpayment of taxes will be made on the revised ITRs, taxpayers can either file for a refund, or choose to carry over the overpaid tax as a credit against the tax due for the same tax type in the following period.

He added taxpayers or assigned officers can also use their electronic signatures in filing returns, attachments and other documents needed, which will be considered as actual signatures.

The BIR also allowed taxpayers to file their returns and make payments anywhere, or even outside the area covered by Revenue District Offices where they are registered, without incurring penalties.

Tax practitioners were seeking a deadline extension, amid the ongoing lockdown restrictions and the short period to adjust to the changes brought by Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, which will cut corporate income tax and streamline tax incentives.

The law was only signed on March 26 while its implementing rules and regulations are not yet out.

The BIR is aiming to collect P231.57 billion in April, mainly from income tax payments. — Beatrice M. Laforga

PHL plans US dollar bonds ‘before rates skyrocket’

April 7, 2021 | 12:31 am

Dollar banknotes are seen in front of a graph in this illustration taken Feb. 8. — REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION/FILE PHOTO

FINANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the government plans to sell dollar bonds before interest rates rise, and will look for new revenue sources and ways to wind down debt next year.

“We will tap the US bond market before rates skyrocket,” Mr. Dominguez said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Kathleen Hays on Tuesday. He didn’t provide more details on the debt plan.

The Philippines plans to borrow a record P3 trillion ($62 billion) from domestic and international sources this year, according to budget data presented to Congress in August. Last week, it raised 55 billion yen ($500 million) through a 3-year Samurai bond sale.

Economic growth this year “is going to be lower than what we expected” as virus cases surge, Mr. Dominguez said.

The Philippines extended a lockdown in Manila and nearby provinces until April 11 to control a rise in infections, and the two-week strict movement curbs will likely shave off 0.8 percentage point from this year’s growth, Economic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said on Monday. Last year’s lockdown — among the world’s longest — pushed gross domestic product (GDP) to plunge 9.5%, the worst since at least 1946.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte, as part of a plan to drive GDP growth to as high as 7.5%, set a record spending goal this year of P4.5 trillion.

The government doesn’t intend to increase its borrowing from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Mr. Dominguez said, and aims to wind down its loans from the central bank later this year or early next.

While the government isn’t planning to introduce new tax measures at this time, Mr. Dominguez said the finance department is looking at ways of “winding down” debt, including other possible revenue sources.

The government aims to cap the budget deficit at 8.9% of GDP this year before lowering the gap to 7.3%.

“I’d like to hear of solutions to the world debt problem,” Mr. Dominguez said of discussions at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings this week. “This is a problem of ours as well as problems of many countries.” — Bloomberg

PSE expects changes in rules to bring IPO boom

April 7, 2021 | 12:10 am

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is expecting more companies to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) after it amended listing rules and added a temporary relief clause when considering applicants due to the pandemic.

PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said the Philippine market is running behind as the country has a lower number of companies listing on the stock exchange.

“To address this issue, we relaxed certain requirements for listing in both the Main and SME boards and we introduced a measure that will gauge a company’s suitability for listing despite the challenges it is facing due to the pandemic,” Mr. Monzon said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr. Monzon went on to thank the Securities and Exchange Commission for acknowledging recommendations to amend the market’s listing rules.

“With this, we hope to attract more companies to dip their foot in the water and consider the stock market as their preferred avenue for capital raising,” Mr. Monzon added.

This month, the PSE will be holding a two-part round table discussion called “The Road to IPO” to discuss the amendments.

“On April 7, top PSE executives and its listings team will take the lead in the information session to discuss the amended listing rules together with officers of investment houses, sponsors for listing applicants in the Small, Medium, Emerging (SME) board, and other key members of IPO deal teams,” the exchange said.

Guidelines for companies that would opt to list through a sponsor are now included in the amended rules for listing.

“This listing format will be beneficial to SMEs and start up companies that have very good profitability and expansion potential but could not tap the stock market for funding because they do not qualify to list based on the set criteria,” Mr. Monzon said.

Sponsoring companies are required to do their due diligence to determine the suitability of the applicant for listing “after assessment of its financial condition, business viability, future prospects and management track record among others” before giving endorsing them to the PSE.

The second part of the round table discussion is set for April 27, where officials of listed companies will discuss their successful IPO stories for the benefit of interested listing applicants.

The PSE president noted that “going public is a once in a lifetime event for many companies.”

“It is important for business owners to know firsthand what it takes to go public from those who have been through the IPO route,” Mr. Monzon explained.

Companies interested in joining the discussions are called on to contact the PSE’s Marketing Services Department via marketingservices@pse.com.ph. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

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